Winning blow: knight to f5 (g3·7)
c9-11692naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1060 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
In Chess960 the pieces start on unfamiliar squares, so tactics appear earlier and from unusual angles. Do not trust classical patterns — read the actual lines of the bishops, the rooks and the queen from where they really stand in this position.
This position hides a concrete tactic that wins material or mates. Start with the most forcing candidate moves — checks, captures and threats — and calculate each to a clear end before choosing; the winning line is usually the one the opponent cannot meet.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king d1, rook c1 h8, bishop b1 a7, knight a1 g3, pawn b2 d2 e2 c3 a4 g4.
Black: king e7, rook c8 e8, bishop c7 f7, knight a8 f8, pawn e5 b6 c6 f6 d7 g7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 12.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 28 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on d1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 12, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
12. Nf5+ Kd8 13. Nxg7 Ke7 14. Nxe8
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f5 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Well found: knight to g7 (+4.0).
- Precise: knight to e8 is the top choice (+4.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kd8, then Nxg7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 12. Nf5+ — knight to f5 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 13. Nxg7 — knight to g7 (capture)
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 14. Nxe8 — knight to e8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #380.
SP-380 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on h1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 300.
The engine's main line opens with O-O-O, bringing the king out to c1.
Morozov Balance Index: 95 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +9 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #380Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-380
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads